"In my opinion, a society that condones unlimited killing of any species of wildlife for fun and prizes is morally bankrupt."~ Dave Parsons, Project Coyote Science Advisory Board

Dear Brian,

Please join Project Coyote in protest of an indefensible coyote and wolf killing "derby" ironically scheduled on the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Endangered Species Act, our nation's safety-net for wildlife, that brought wolves back from the brink of extinction. It is imperative that everyone speak out against this atrocity scheduled in just two weeks. Time is ctitical.

This is not hunting but a gratuitous massacre that is legal in Idaho and across the country. Prizes will be offered to contestants who kill the largest wolf and the most female coyotes. Children as young as 10 are encouraged to compete, with prizes being offered to youth from the ages of 10-14.

These competitions are ethically indefensible and ecologically reckless, as well as a public safety risk, as shooters fan out across the landscape, trying to shoot large numbers of coyotes and wolves.

A wolf tag can be purchased for as little as $11.75, permitting each hunter to shoot 4 to 10 wolves (depending on region). 154 wolves have been killed in Idaho since hunting season opened on August 30th. Idaho is showing the nation what happens to wolves following the removal of federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.

Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association, BoiseJohn May, Executive Director
Phone: (208) 342-1438
Email: john@koga.orgIOGA represents all outfitters in the state of Idaho. If you use Idaho outfitters for white water rafting, camping, backcountry skiing - please mention this and urge IOGA to speak out against having their members participate in a predator killing contest.

"The non-specific, indiscriminate killing methods used in this commercial and unrestricted coyote killing contest are not about hunting or sound land mamangement. These contests are about personal profit, animal cruelty...It is time to outlaw this highly destructive activity."
~ Ray Powell, New Mexico Land Commissioner

1. Killing contests have nothing in common with fair chase, ethical hunting. Technology, baiting, and "calling" place wildlife at an even greater and unfair disadvantage. Killing predators, or any wild animal, as part of a 'contest' or 'derby' is ethically indefensible and ecologically reckless.

2. Bloodsport contests are conducted for profit, entertainment, prizes and, simply, for the "fun" of killing. No evidence exists showing that predator killing contests control problem animals or serve any beneficial management function. Coyote populations that are not exploited (that is hunted, trapped, or controlled by other means), form stable "extended family" social structures that naturally limit overall coyote populations through defense of territory and the suppression of breeding by subordinate female members of the family group.

3. The importance of wolves, coyotes and other predators in maintaining order, stability, and productivity in ecosystems has been well documented in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Coyotes provide myriad ecosystem services that benefit humans including their control of smaller predators, rodents, and jackrabbits, which compete with domestic livestock for available forage. As apex predators wolves increase biodiversity and ecological integrity.

4. With fewer than 700 wolves in Idaho and poaching a common problem, allowing a killing contest of a species just off the endangered species list is reckless, indefensible and counter to sound science.

5. Economically, a live wolf is worth far more than a dead one. Wolf watching has brought in millions of dollars into Idaho and tourism is a major economic revenue source.

6. Wildlife killing contests perpetuate a culture of violence and send the message to children that life has little value and that an entire species of animals is disposable.

Last week Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva released a letter co-signed by 85 House Democratic and Republican colleagues urging Secretrary of the Interior Sally Jewell to continue offering Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection to gray wolves across the United States.

Basin Butte wolf pack near Stanley, Idaho (100 miles North of Salmon, Idaho). All the wolves in this photo have been killed since this photo was taken in 2008. Copyright photo: Lynne K. Stone

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